AUDIO: Dog perished as Goodna house burned

A GOODNA couple spent Sunday afternoon hosing down their home, worried for their neighbour and his dog as fire took hold of a Eric St property.

Pat and Ernie Davis were watching TV and doing embroidery when they heard an explosion and watched as their neighbour's home went up in flames.

The home owner was out but there was nothing neighbours or emergency services could do to save his dog, which was trapped inside the home.

"The dog couldn't get out," neighbour Pat Davis said.

"There was a lady come last night and we heard the policeman say about the dog and she was crying."

Mrs Davis said she was frightened for her neighbour and realised how "vulnerable life is" as she watched the home burn.

"I was more concerned for the house next door and the dog inside, I was just upset, I was a little bit concerned about my house. It upsets you when you see how fast it happens, that's what was gathering in my thoughts," she said.

"If it had spread, we would have lost this house. It makes you suddenly realise, I think we all realised that day how vulnerable we are when there is fire.

"A fire doesn't care, it has a mind of its own. You just suddenly realise how vulnerable life is, that's what struck me on Sunday, how vulnerable we are when fire is around."

Mr Davis said the neighbouring property's asbestos wall saved his home from catching alight.

"The asbestos saved me, the flames didn't get through," he said.

"It's the best fire retardant there is.

"We were very lucky because the fire started off on the other side. We didn't get any of the flame, we got thick smoke."

Police manned the site overnight on Sunday while fire investigators arrived on scene this morning.

Nobody was injured in the fire and investigations are continuing into the cause of the blaze.